As the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo approach, Japan has been ramping up (or at least trying to) efforts to make services such as travel more English-friendly within the country. While most major hubs have enough to get English-speaking traveler's by and station staff are always willing to help, there are still instances in which visitors from foreign countries may find some trouble navigating the country without some hiccups. And with more subway and train lines scheduled to be increased in 2017, the station staff will be given themselves a upgrade as well - the Megaphone Translator.

Thanks to this high-tech horn, the native language you speak though will be self-translated into a foreign language in real time. While it's not a direct translator and relies on desired phrases being entered into the device ahead of time, it will no doubt be a helpful tool for its intended use--giving simple instructions to large crowds gathered in train stations and other public event areas.

The Megaphone Translator supports 4 languages: English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. It is also said to support 300 different scenarios of instruction. Narita Airport has officially started using it, as well during the 2017 New Year holiday at Harajuku and Asakusa stations, places with high traffic of foreign visitors who can benefit from the instructions.

Instruction example,

〈Japanese〉事故の影響により電車が遅れております。

〈English〉The train is delayed due to an accident.

〈Chinese〉电车受事故影响将延迟。

〈Korean〉사고 의 영향으로 전철이 지연되고 있습니다.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.